`I Enjoy What I'm Doing Now'

June 07, 1998|By PETER DOWNS; Courant Correspondent

BRISTOL — His one year at Bristol Technical Education Center marked a new beginning for West Hartford resident Salvador Arroyo, who hopes his short, yet highly rewarding experience at the technical school will propel him further along his educational and work path.

Arroyo, 20, started high school at Conard High School. By his own admission, his time there was remarkable only for its ordinariness. His one year at the center, however, has been anything but ordinary.

``You could say that I wasn't a particularly good student there,'' said Arroyo, about his time at Conard. ``My experience at Bristol Tech has been great for me.''

One of four children and the only boy, Arroyo attained high honors in his course work at Bristol Technical and began to see school as a means to achieve the goals he has set in life.

``I enjoy what I'm doing now. I'm seeing how rewarding it can be when I apply myself to it,'' Arroyo said. ``I guess I'm a hands-on kind of person.''

This year's graduation ceremony also marks a new beginning for the Bristol Technical Education Center. This year is the first the school will issue certificates to its technical program students as an independent program.

Formerly a satellite school for E. C. Goodwin Vocational-Technical School in New Britain, the Bristol Technical Education Center became a separate program in July 1997. The technical program first opened 15 years ago.

Arroyo's experience exemplifies what the Bristol center hopes to achieve: to train students in the vocational trades and offer an alternative to more traditional schooling.

``There is nothing more satisfying than to be able to provide a good learning place for these kids,'' according to Rose Given, one of Arroyo's teachers. ``The students here get to learn a trade in which they can make a good living.''

Arroyo's parents, Salvador and Gloria Arroyo, also believe the school has helped to foster personal growth in their son.

``He's happier and more involved in things,'' Salvador Arroyo said. ``I'm very proud of what he's doing. This year has been very good for him.''

The younger Arroyo also has involved himself in a range of non- classroom activities, including election as student council vice president and participation in a solar car project.

Arroyo helped to organize the sale of cheesecakes to raise money for the program's student activities and for a class gift to the school. He also participated in the painting of a mural near the center's cafeteria, a student-led ``school spirit project.''

As a member of the student council, the West Hartford resident also helped to convince the administration to change how the money generated in student- sponsored fund-raisers was spent. Money raised this year is being applied to a school field day and the class gift, he said.

Arroyo believes his progress was worth the long commute to and from West Hartford to the Bristol school each day.

``Being a part of the school has really helped me as a person,'' Arroyo said. ``I want to do more with my education now, I'm looking forward to college and a career, maybe in architecture.''

Arroyo, who works part time at Hartford Hospital, has his sights on furthering his education. Before that, however, he wants to spend the next year at a job.

``After some time at work, I think I'll be in a better position, particularly financially, to decide what's next,'' Arroyo said.